It is always interesting to go back into history and try to learn the beginnings of the things we are interested in. In this case, we are going to explore the history of backgammon. By reading this article you will develop an understanding of the game of backgammon, discover its origins, different names and uses in ancient times. This wondrous game still develops as of present times and now has become an online addiction of many backgammon enthusiasts.
It is said to be an ancient game originating from Mesopotamia. It is interesting to know that the present-day Mesopotamia is located in Iraq, Iran and Syria. Backgammon is probably one of the oldest recognized board games in the history of the world. It was usually played on wood surfaces and it used stone markers. In addition, dices were made of stones, bones, pottery or wood. Backgammon did not only emerge during the Mesopotamian era, but even during the years BC. Sumerians, Persians, Egyptians and Romans enjoyed it.
Artifacts - Evidence of Backgammon’s Ancient Existence
The colorful history of backgammon can be associated to the kind of people who used to play this game such as leaders and aristocrats of ancient civilizations. There were evidences such as relics and literary books that were excavated from the lands of Greece, Persia, Rome and Asia. Some of these artifacts can be dated as far back as 3000 to 1788 BC. The rules were yet unknown but these artifacts like the gaming boards and dice reveal the vast history of backgammon.
In Egypt, they dug up gaming boards with dimensions of 3 by 6, 3 by 12 and 3 by 10. This game was later known as Senat or Game of Thirty Squares.
In the Sumerian civilization, they were able to discover wooden boards in the tomb of Ur al Chaldees. Found along with it was a pair of tetrahedral dice and this game became known as The Royal Games of Ur. This was found around 2600 BC while earlier in 177 BC, they found a cuneiform tablet containing the set of rules of ancient backgammon.
Backgammon Game during the Roman Empire
As one of the most prolific empire in the world, the Romans also contributed much to the history of backgammon. During their times, there were evidences of such a game named Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum which means “the Game of 12 Lines”. This particular game used leather boards and different sets of 30 markers each consisting of 15 ebony and 15 ivory bones. This game was recorded as early as 600 AD and was famed to be one of the derivatives of the Senat game of Egypt.
As time passed by, Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum was later on superseded by different variants such as using boards with 2×12 lines in lieu of the 3×12 lines. This new version gave close resemblance to today’s backgammon games.
The Roman Empire sent out conquests to different parts of the world and they brought along with them backgammon until it reached Britain in the 1st century AD and was tagged as Tabula, which is the generic name of the board used. This game became a popular pastime activity and was even favored by the great Emperor Claudius. In fact, whenever the Emperor traveled, he brought along in his carriage an alveus, which was a playing board of Tabula. In 50 AD, Emperor Claudius wrote an extensive history of Tabula. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, it did not survive.
The extent of popularity Tabula led to the gambling mania sweeping the whole of Rome. Henceforth under the rule of Republic, it was banned and declared illegal. There was a fine 4 times the stakes whenever Romans gamble and only allowed to gamble during the time of Saturnalia. However, this law was not followed much because of weak and sporadic enforcement.
By the time of 6th Century, Tabula became Alea, which is defined as “the art gambing with the use of dice”. In this regard, Alea is likely the first predecessor of contemporary backgammon though there were differences in movement and starting positions.
Backgammon Game in Asia
The Asians were not far from the trend of backgammon because in 800 AD in Southwest Asia, there appeared a game named “Nard” which was played in the same manner as Alea. Nard also made use of dice in moving markers and was alternately called Nardeeshir, Nard-i-shir and Nardshir. The term Nard was actually the Persian name for a wood similar to the board used in the game. Moreover, this game was referred to as “Takhteh Nard” which means combat on wood.
There was an ancient writing depicting the symbolism of the game and it revealed that this board game represented a year. Each side composed of 12 points represented the months of a year. While the 24 points corresponded to the hours of a day and the 30 checkers constituted the days in a month. In addition, the sum of each opposing side of a die depicted the 7 days of the week whereas the contrastive colors of the set of checkers presented night and day.
The Chinese counterpart of Nard was called T’shu-p’u and was believed to have been originating from West India. It reached China during 220 to 265 AD, which was the reign of the Wei dynasty. T’shu-p’u became popular starting from 479 to 1000 AD.
The Japanese called this game Sugoroku and little was known about the differences among the Chinese backgammon game, Nard and Sugoroku.
In summary, you may have noticed how far backgammon reached the different parts of the world due to the different conquests of the Romans and Arabs. Tabula became known to different cultures indicating that this game was brought about by the conquest of the Roman Empire. Nard was likewise spread throughout Asia due to the Arabian conquest of Spain, Italy during the occupation of Sicily. Nard was quite different from Tabula due to the incorporation of Senat. The only main difference was the use of dice. In Tabula, they used three dice while in Nard they made use of only two.
Now you will definitely enjoy a good game of backgammon because you know aristocrats and emperors used to play this fun game.